The Flatusophonist

Many people look at the flatusophone and assume it’s a snap to play. “But they would be wrong!” declared Claire Dinklaker, principle flatusophonist of the Northern Norwegian Symphony Orchestra. She wanted to add that it takes lots of practice plus good abdominal muscle control to master the instrument but couldn’t because she was busy rehearsing her part in the new production of “Die Meistersinger von Borborygmus.”

David Gunn
www.DavidGunn.org

Ladies' Day

March 30, 2014 - Composer's Voice Concert
Reviewed by Jack Crager

On March 30, the versatile acoustics of the Jan Hus Church are on full display in a Composer's Voice program featuring instruments ranging from solo clarinet to marvelously operatic vocals. Curated by Nailah Nombeko, and presented by Vox Novus in collaboration with New York Women Composers, the concert celebrates music written and performed almost exclusively by women.

The exception to the all-female lineup is "Fifteen Minutes of Fame," which features one-minute compositions by men as well as women. The arbiters and performers are Yumi Suehiro on piano and soprano Shannon Roberts. Introducing the set, Roberts describes it as a transition between winter and spring—an apt theme on this second weekend after the 2014 Vernal Equinox.

Like the seasons they evoke, these 15 pieces evoke complex moods, starting with the heavy, resigned chords and ominously soaring vocals of Jose Jesus de Azevedo Souza's "Wintery Forest," picking up tempo in the roiling piano figures of Matthew Van Dongen's "Vexation," and settling back into the peaceful melodies, like fluttering snowfall, of Christopher M. Wicks' "Die Weihe der Nacht." Later the onset of spring emerges in the gentle waltz and reassuring chords of Sheila Forrester's "Penny Matches" and the majestic rumination of Tyler Kline's "In the twilight rain," followed by the quicker, dancing triplet figures of Mary Ann Joyce-Walter's "The Eagle." Toward the end of the set, the celebratory melodies of Blair Whittington's "Santa Rosa" give way to the processional march of Laszlo Kékszakállú's "Plant My Apple Tree Today," concluding with the verve of Geoffrey Kiddle's "Now Welcome Somer"—a roaring affirmation that warmer climes have arrived.

Next up in the program is a duet between Stanichka Dimitrova on violin and Sookkyung Cho on piano, performing Julie Mandel's composition "Memories." The opening segment indicates memories of the pleasant variety, with the instruments exchanging and alternating between conventionally pretty melodies and warm chord patterns. The piece grows more agitated and conflicted as it progresses, finally settling into a wistful, but accepting, mood at the close.

The same duo then performs Alla Pavlova's "Impromptu," which opens with soaring violin leads supported by dynamic piano arpeggios, then shifts into a piano lead segment before the violin takes over again with a new melodic motif...the two instruments blending and building into a final flourish. The title might be "Impromtu" but the crafted piece sounds anything but. As the performers take their bows, composer Pavlova presents each of them with a dozen yellow roses.

As something of an instrumental palette cleanser, clarinetist Dorothy Duncan then performs Mary Ann Joyce Walter's "Ode to an Elevator." This evocatively named number starts with low rumbling patterns and builds into a series of musical vignettes that grow increasingly spritely, before abruptly coming to a close, as if the destination floor has been reached.

Pianist Yumi Suehiro takes the stage for a solo performance of Hilary Tann's "Doppelganger," which prominently features the art of the trill. Beginning with rapidly roiling high notes, it descends into abstract sonic textures, and growing dissonance, before alighting on a series of solid major chords. The piece then shifts into heavy bass patterns punctuated by scattershot treble notes, increasingly gathering momentum...then finally ending as mysteriously unresolved as it begins.

Violinist Stanichka Dimitrova and pianist Sookkyung Cho return to perform Beth Anderson's "Tale #1," which begins with rippling fiddle-like lines over galloping staccato piano chords, then progresses with the two instruments exchanging rapid-fire scales and percussive chords, building together toward a symbiotic climax.

Guest curator Nailah Nombeko contributes the next composition, "Short Songs to the Poetry of William Blake," performed by soprano Adrienne Patino and pianist Marcia Eckert. This piece benefits from the printed lyrics—five short poems by Blake (1757-1827)—being distributed to the audience. Beginning with "The Lilly" and closing with "The Sick Rose," these segments seem to reflect a life cycle: first upbeat but disruptive, then more pensive and hopeful. A restless but wondering middle section gives way to a reflective series of descending chord clusters; then the final poem, a rumination on death, is accompanied by a surprisingly sanguine musical tone.

For the afternoon's finale, violinist Adrianna Mateo and pianist Luda Lee perform Elisenda Fabregas's "Sonata for violin and piano (1st Movement)." This starts with a lively burst of piano patterns echoed by the violin, then shifts into counter-melodies that build into an intense exchange, like two sprinting animals darting around but keeping pace with one another, before finishing up in lock step. By concert's end, the mood is a spritely one—and the spring season is in full gear.

Click here to see the concert program

And that's not all: On Sunday, April 6, the Women's Composers collaboration with Vox Novus continues with another Composer's Voice concert at St. Mary's Episcopal Cathedral at 521 West 126th Street, on the Upper West Side, at 3 pm. Also curated by Nailah Nombeko, this concert combines some pieces from the March 30 concert with additional music by other artists—it's sure to continue the springtime celebration!

Jack Crager

Upcoming Performances

Composer’s Voice presents New York Women Composers at
St. Mary's Episcopal Church in Manhattanville

Sunday, April 6th, 2014 at 3:00 PM

Sunday April 6 at 3:00 PM Composer’s Voice will be presenting its second concert featuring the New York Women Composers along with its musical staple Fifteen Minutes of Fame at the St. Mary's Episcopal Church on 521 West 126th street in New York City. This performance will feature the music and performances of Adrianna Mateo, Luda Lee, Elisenda Fabregas, Rain Worthington, Hilary Tann, Binnette Lipper, Joyce Hope Suskind, and Nailah Nombeko.

Curator Nailah Nombeko works have been performed by a variety of ensembles, soloists and choirs such as, the Orfeo Duo (violin/piano), Shannon Roberts, Tiffany DuMouchelle, and Marcia Eckert. Ms. Nombeko’s music has been performed at Symphony Space, Columbia University, as well as other venues in New York City. Her music was featured on Classical Discoveries 103.3 FM and What’s Next Radio 91.1 FM.

Adrienne Patino Dunn regularly sings with the St. Patrick's Cathedral, National Chorale at Lincoln Center, the Salvatones, the Cornerstone Chorale, and the Mineola Choral Society. She made her Avery Fisher Hall debut as a soprano soloist with the National Chorale in 2009. She is a co-founder, producer and performer of Opera Collective, a group of young performers that strives to make opera accessible to the general public.

Marcia Eckert is active as piano soloist and collaborative artist and has appeared in the Mostly Mozart Festival, as well as at Merkin, Alice Tully, and Weill concert halls, and London’s Leighton House. She has travelled throughout the United States presenting lecture-recitals on piano music by women composers and on the music of Charles Ives.

Elisenda Fábregas has been praised for writing with an “imaginatively colored... idiom” (The New York Times). During the 2013-2014 season, Fábregas Symphony No. 1 for Symphonic Band will be premiered at ‘L’Auditori’ in Barcelona, and her Triple Concerto for violin, cello and piano will be premiered by the Atlanta Virtuosi (US) in the Fall of 2014. Recent premieres at the Seoul Arts Center, the International Percussion Festival of Seoul, and the Wonju Philharmonic.

Pianist Luda Lee was born and raised in Seoul, South Korea. Luda performs in piano duo, piano solo and chamber music. Luda won at the international piano competition and baroque philharmonic orchestra competition. Luda was the accompanist for the Palm choir at Gangnam Church at Seoul for 2 years. Now, she is an official accompanist/pianist at Manhattan School of Music.

Binnette Lipper is an active member of the New York Women Composers, Lipper is the recipient of an American Music Center grant, Meet-the-Composer Grants, ASCAPlus Awards, and numerous commissions.

Adrianna Mateo is a new music violinist and singer-songwriter. In thepast year, she has performed as a soloist at the American Museum ofNatural History, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in collaboration with its first Artist-In-Residence, DJ Spooky, Ars Nova, the Living Room, and abroad in France, Italy, the Philippines, and South Africa; and as an orchestral musician at Carnegie Hall (Zankel Hall) and Lincoln Center (Avery Fisher Hall). She has been featured on the front cover of the TimesLedger's QGuide, with additional features by the Queens Tribune and the Savona News.

Lifelong New Yorker, Joyce Hope Suskind’s composing career grew out of her work as a pianist for the Martha Graham School. She was commissioned by Lehman College to write the score for a Balinese Dance, using gamelons, flute, and drums.

Welsh-born composer, Hilary Tann, lives in the foothills of the Adirondack Mountains in upstate New York. Praised for its lyricism and formal balance, her music is influenced by her love of Wales, a deep interest in the traditional music of Japan, and a strong identification with the natural world.

Rain Worthington has a distinctly unique voice within the field of contemporary music. As critic, Kyle Gann noted inChamber Music magazine, her music take(s) ideas of American musical style to a new place - like a walk in a familiar, yet very different park... And isn't afraid to come up with its own startling conclusions.

Soprano Shannon Roberts holds dual US and Irish citizenship, dividing her time between New York City and Europe. She finds it an important and rewarding endeavor to collaborate with living composers, and has premiered works by several, including award winning Juilliard composer Bruce Lazarus and most recently Nailah Nombeko’s William Blake Songs. Ms. Roberts is a multiple award winner receiving prizes, grants, and or scholarships from: The Wagner Society of New York, the Liederkranz Foundation, and the Lee Schaenen Foundation, among others.

Born in Osaka, Japan, pianist Yumi Suehiro started piano at age 6, and started marimba a year later. Ms. Suehiro has won numerous national and international competitions, including the top prize at the KOBE International Competition in Japan as the youngest winner. In 2007 and 2008, she was invited to perform her debut at the Carnegie Weill recital hall as a winner of AMTL audition, and in following year, she was featured as a guest marimba player in Latin percussionist, Victor Rendon's recoding “Fiesta Percussiva”. Ms. Suehiro won the second prize at Dora Zaslavsky Koch piano concerto competition in Manhattan School of Music where she currently earned Master of Music under the tutelage of Mr. Zenon Fishbein and Dr. Peter Vinograde.

The 15 composers being presented in this Fifteen-Minutes-of-Fame are: Scott Brickman, Matthew Van Dongen, Sheila Forrester, Jay Anthony Gach, Burton Goldstein, Mary Ann Joyce-Walter, Laszlo Kekszakallu, Geoffrey Kiddle, Tyler Kline, D.H. Lawrence, Kevin Scott, Jose Jesus de Azevedo Souza, Dale Trumbore, Blair Whittington, and Christopher M. Wicks

THE MISSION OF NEW YORK WOMEN COMPOSERS, INC. is to create performing, recording, networking, and mentoring opportunities for its members, and to work for the betterment of all women concert-music composers. We believe that continually focusing attention on music by women composers will hasten its full inclusion in the concert repertoire.

Composer's Voice & New York Women Composers concert.
Sunday April 6, 2014 at 3:00 PM
St. Mary's Episcopal Church
521 West 126th street
New York, New York 10027
FREE ADMISSION

Fifteen-Minutes-of-Fame: with Mark Robson
The Four Elements: earth, wind, fire, water
at the Brand Library & Art Center in Glendale, California

Sunday, April 6th, 2014 at 2:00 PM

The Brand Library & Art Center in Glendale California will be host Fifteen Minutes of Fame with pianist Mark Robson on Sunday April 6 at 2pm. This set of 15 one-minute works by 15 different composers will be part of their full length solo recitals on the Brand Library Music Series. The concerts will be held in the Brand Library Recital Hall and admission is free. Receptions for the artists will be held in the courtyard after each concert.

The Brand Library, located in the City of Glendale’s verdant Brand park, is the art and music section of the Glendale Library, Arts & Culture Department. In 1956 it opened to the public in El Miradero, the beautiful home of Leslie C. Brand, a prominent early 20th century citizen and businessman. In 1969 an art gallery and recital hall were added to serve music and art lovers from across Southern California.

The Brand Library is extremely pleased to be host Mark Robson as part of our concert series in our reopening year. A special thank you to Vox Novus for all of the important work they have done in promoting new music around the world!

Fifteen Minutes of Fame is 15 one-minute acoustic works by different composers. Fifteen Minutes of Fame gives a variety of new music by living composers to audiences hungry to hear what is being created in today's music scene.

"…the pieces are performed in quick succession and each has a character of its own, the audience is treated to a kaleidoscope of styles; in turn textural and tonal, avant-garde and neo-romantic... the entire smorgasbord of contemporary idioms was playing a game of musical chairs, so to speak, and the effect was thrilling. " - Damjan Rakonjac, Artificialist

Mark Robson will be performing the one-minute works from composers: David Bohn, Silvia Corda, Bobby DiLisle, Yvonne Freckmann, Jay Anthony Gach, Burton Goldstein, Ben Hase, Matthew Hetz, Steve Lansford, Alan Shockley, Bob Siebert, James Soe Nyun, José Jesus de Azevedo Souza, David Nelson Tomasacci, Adam Zahller

Click here to see the concert program

Fifteen-Minutes-of-Fame: The Four Elements: earth, wind, fire, water with Mark Robson
Sunday April 6, 2014 at 2:00 PM
Brand Library & Art Center
1601 W. Mountain Street
Glendale, California 91201
(818) 548-2051
www.brandlibrary.org
FREE ADMISSION

Calendar

Announcing results for Fifteen Minutes of Fame with The Poné Ensemble

The Poné Ensemble selected 15 one-minute works to premiere on April 27, 2014 in New Paltz, New York for Fifteen-Minutes-of-Fame.

The Poné Ensemble for New Music is celebrating its 40th season in 2013-14. The Anniversary concert season, entitled “The Poné Ensemble @ 40: Past, Present, Future”, is a series of three concerts featuring works from key composers of the 20th and 21st centuries, culminating in a concert of new works for chamber ensemble.

The final concert ("Future") will be on April 27, 2014 and will feature composers under the age of 50 (basically composers born and coming of age during the life thus far of the ensemble). This Fifteen Minutes of Fame will be featured on the “Future” concert.

Composers selected for fifteen-Minutes-of-Fame with The Poné Ensemble include:
Inception by David Bohn,
Jubilee by Scott Brickman,
Splash by Andrew Bukowski,
Contra Punctum by Chris Cresswell,
Exiguous Caper by Elizabeth Skola Davis,
Quartet for the Beginning of Time by José Jesusde Azevedo Souza,
Dream Fragment by Anthony Donofrio,
Encounter 1 by Fermino Gomes,
Der Struwwelpeter by Nathan R. Johnson,
Au commencement, le crépescule... by Martin Loridan,
Love’s Like The Measles by Gene Pritsker,
Self Portrait 1854 by Edward Ruchalski,
copy-pasting myself to death by Joaquin Mendoza Sebastián,
Hudson Valley by Juan Maria Solare, and
Inquiry by Frederick Alden Terry

Along with these works, we will have 4 other world premieres: David Mecionis: Obstinate Duet for Flute and Clarinet Eric Roth: Recercare for Violin and Cello Brian Wery: String Quartet Michael Vincent Waller: Rifiuto for Flute, Clarinet, Bassoon, Violin 1 &2, Viola, Cello

Fifteen Minutes of Fame with The Poné Ensemble
Sunday April 27 at 3:00 PM
Methodist Church
1 Grove Street, New Paltz
New Paltz, New York 12561
Tickets:
General $15
Seniors $12
Students Free

You can find more information here
http://www.voxnovus.com/15_Minutes_of_Fame/featuring/Pone_Ensemble/

Vox Novus Projects

Two Fifteen Minutes of Fame at the Brand Library & Art Center in Glendale, California

The Brand Library & Art Center in Glendale California will be hosting two Fifteen Minutes of Fame with pianist Mark Robson on Sunday April 6 at 2pm and cellist Maksim Valechkin on Sunday May 4 at 2pm. Both will be part of their full length solo recitals on the Brand Library Music Series. The concerts will be held in the Brand Library Recital Hall and admission is free. Receptions for the artists will be held in the courtyard after each concert.

Information on the Fifteen-Minutes-of-Fame call for scores can be found below by clicking here.

Opportunities

Fifteen-Minutes-of-Fame: Homage to Bach with Maksim Velichkin

Deadline: April 19, 2014

Vox Novus is calling for one-minute pieces composed for Fifteen-Minutes-of-Fame: Homage to Bach is to be premiered by Maksim Velichkin on the Music@Mimoda series in Los Angeles. The one-minute works for this call are to be written for solo cello. The theme of this Fifteen Minutes of Fame is an Homage to Bach; works submitted should be based on, developed from, and otherwise related to the pitches BACH. This shall serve as a uniting factor for all the compositions. The pieces should employ traditional means of extracting sound from the cello.

Maksim Velichkin has been active as a solo performer, chamber and orchestra musician, both locally and throughout the world. Mr.Velichkin has appeared as a soloist with Uzbekistan National Symphony, Duquesne Contemporary Ensemble, American Youth Symphony, as well as Torrance, Westchester, Southeast and Bellflower orchestras. He has toured extensively to Europe, Asia, North and South America and Australia with the prestigious Verbier Chamber and Verbier Festival Symphony Orchestras.

Click here for more details

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